F6 manuscript publishing system (F6MPS) Manuscripts recommends the use of the browsers Internet Explorer 10/11, Firefox 32, and Chrome 37.

2 STEPS TO SUBMIT MANUSCRIPTS

Step 1: Create an author¡¯s user account by registering your personal information in the Member Login System A valid email address is required for contact with the editorial team regarding submission and review activities. If your email address has been registered before, please click the ¡°Forgotten your password¡± link to retrieve your password. Then, enter your email address and password to gain access to our online manuscript submission system, the F6MPS.

Step 2: Submit the first author¡¯s email address.

Step 3: Select the journal to which you want to submit your manuscript.

Step 4: Submit full correspondence information for the corresponding author.

Step 5: Academic misconduct. The corresponding author must provide an honest Yes or No answer to each of the questions listed below. For all questions with a ¡®Yes¡¯ response, the authors must make a special statement.

8 Does your manuscript have any instances of digital image manipulation?

9 Has your manuscript been published in a journal in any other language than English, including your native language?

Step 6: Academic rules and norms. Authors, editors and publishers all have ethical obligations with regard to the publication of research results. In accordance with these academic rules and norms, the corresponding author must provide an honest Yes or No answer to each of the questions listed below, prior to manuscript submission. For all questions with a ¡®Yes¡¯ response, the authors must upload a copy of the corresponding approval document(s)/letter(s) of confirmation and/or a copy of signed statement in PDF format.

1 Does your manuscript contain the institutional review board statement in the main text?

2 Does your manuscript contain the informed consent statement in the main text?

3 Does your manuscript contain the clinical trial registration statement in the main text?

4 Does your manuscript contain the institutional animal care and use committee statement in the main text?

5 Does your manuscript contain the animal care and use statement in the main text?

6 Does your manuscript contain the biostatistics statement in the main text?

7 Does your manuscript contain the data sharing statement in the main text?

8 Does your manuscript contain the conflict-of-interest statement in the main text?

Step 17: Submit the cover letter. The 1-page cover letter should include a clear description of your study¡¯s objective, strengths and weaknesses, and key finding. The cover letter will be read by the invited peer reviewers and is used as the main deciding factor as to whether or not they will engage in the peer-review of your manuscript.

Step 18: If the manuscript is an invited manuscript, the ID number should be submitted.

Step 19: Submit the scientific research process. Before the manuscript is sent to peer reviewers, authors are asked to submit a report that describes the entire scientific research process that was used to obtain the data and findings presented therein. This detailed information is of great help to the peer reviewers in their evaluation of the academic quality of the manuscript. Specifically, it allows the peer reviewers to readily identify and support papers with substance and relevance that augment the literature in a meaningful manner. Moreover, through this effort, the journal is able to protect against superfluous or irrelevant information cluttering the literature and lessening its overall usefulness and impact on scientific research and progress.

Once the manuscript is accepted for publication, this report will be released together with the manuscript to promote further in-depth reading by the article¡¯s attracted audience, ultimately improving the academic influence of the article. This report should answer the following questions:

Step 23: Submit the academic rules and norms-related documents for any manuscript type¡¯s requirement. Please click the button ¡°Browse¡± and select the document you want to submit, and then click the button ¡°Upload¡± to submit the document. The first step in the peer-review process is to assess whether the manuscript itself meets the basic standards for ethics in publication; the features assessed include academic misconduct, academic rules and norms, ethics-related statements, and efforts on the part of non-native speakers of English. To aid in this step, the authors must ensure that they have prepared and provided the following items before submitting their manuscript.

If the manuscript type selected is Editorial, Frontier, Diagnostic Advances, Therapeutic Advances, Field of Vision, Minireview, Review, Topic Highlight, or Letter to the Editor, the Conflict-of-interest statement has to be submitted.

If the manuscript type selected is Basic Study, the Institutional Review Board statement, Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee statement, Animal care and use statement, Biostatistics statement, and Conflict-of-interest statement have to be submitted.

If the manuscript type selected is Evidence-Based Medicine, Systematic Review, Meta-Analysis, or Scientometrics, the Biostatistics statement and Conflict-of-interest statement have to be submitted.

If the manuscript type selected is Case Report, the Institutional Review Board statement, Informed consent statement, and Conflict-of-interest statement have to be submitted.

Step 24: Non-native English-speaking authors must submit an English language editing certificate. To ensure that the peer reviewers can give a fair and objective assessment of the manuscript, non-native English-speaking authors must seek out and use the services of a professional editing service provider, either a professional English language editing company or a qualified colleague (with evidenced expertise and experience in English language editing of scientific and medical manuscripts).

Step 25: Submit the complete list of all publications of the corresponding author. This list will be verified by our science editors and peer reviewers to confirm that the corresponding author has not published similar paper(s).

Step 26: Submit the original sources of the manuscript, if the manuscript has been published in a journal in any other language than English, including your native language.

Step 27: Submit any audio, video, and supplementary material related to the manuscript.

Step 28: Submit the full manuscript, including text, figures, and tables.

Step 29: After all the above steps are completed, please click the ¡°Submit¡¯¡¯ button to finish this submission.